Statement On Trial Of Dennis Hutchings
Mr Hutchings is an 80 year old HM Forces veteran who today (4th October 2021) will face a Diplock* court in Belfast on charges of murder and GBH, dating back to an incident in 1974, when he was serving in Northern Ireland.
He is an elderly and very ill man who has already faced a number of investigations and inquiries into this incident, none of which resulted prosecution. The incident was investigated at the time by both the Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary, neither of whom found any wrongdoing on the part of Mr Hutchings and his colleagues. But the coals have been raked over endlessly by those who would see our veterans eternally persecuted over a conflict that was not of their making. This against a backdrop of terrorists who murdered thousands, including hundreds of soldiers and police officers, being given immunity from prosecution.
The Alliance for Democracy and Freedom Party oppose this inequity and believe it is time to tell those who will not stop scratching the sore that it is time to move on. Everyone involved must be treated equally. We either stop this pursuit of elderly British veterans or, we cancel the terrorist amnesties, put those already convicted back behind bars and arrest and prosecute the “on the runs” secretly given immunity by Tony Blair. There is no prospect that Mr Hutchins would face a fair hearing before a jury and the political pressure on the trial judge to convict will undoubtedly be significant. This is not “justice”.
Boris Johnson promised to protect our veterans but, as he has on just about every other issue, subsequently reneged on that promise.
A line must be drawn under this and the past must be allowed to become history.
*A Diplock court, named after Lord Diplcok who suggested their creation, is a Crown Court with no jury. They were established in the 1970s for the trying of certain offences where it was feared there was a high risk of jury interference and intimidation by terrorist groups. The case is heard by a single judge”.